For the first time in more than 2 years, Hamas has no alive Israeli hostages. The armed Palestinian group has returned all its captives back to Israel on October 13, about 2 years after they were taken to Gaza.
The 20 hostages, who arrived in 2 bursts, were taken to IDF-operated medical facilities after they were ferried to Israel by the Red Cross. They reportedly met their families there. Celebrations were noted in Tel Aviv and beyond, even though Israel attempted to keep the exchange low-key.
But the tougher part remains. Israel now prepares to receive the remains of the 28 hostages who never made it out alive. But Israel has said it does not expect all of the dead hostages to be returned on Monday.
Among those gathered on Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Noga shared her pain and joy with AFP.
"I'm torn between emotion and sadness for those who won't be coming back," she said.
The releases are part of a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, with Israel due in return to free nearly 2,000 detainees held in its jails in exchange.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas was due to return the bodies of the 27 hostages who died or were killed in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza conflict.
Among those Israel was due to release in exchange are 250 security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1,700 were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza during the war.
After visiting Israel, Donald Trump will head to Egypt, where he and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders to back his plan to end the Gaza war and promote Middle East peace.
Trump will be looking to resolve some of the huge uncertainty around the next phases of the peace plan -- including Hamas's refusal to disarm and Israel's failure to pledge a full withdrawal from the devastated territory.
Trump insisted he had "guarantees" from both sides and other key regional players about the initial phase of the deal, and the future stages.
Trump also said he would be "proud" to visit Gaza itself, but did not say when such a difficult security challenge would be possible.
